Mitsubishi eyes construction of EV battery plant in PH

Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corporation (MMPC) is considering establishing a modern battery manufacturing facility for electric vehicles as part of its PHP7 billion investment under the government’s Electric Vehicle Incentive Strategy (EVIS) program.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. signed Executive Order (EO) No. 121 on July 29, 2026, paving the way for the EVIS program to incentivize local manufacturing of electric vehicles (EVs) and their parts and components.

MMPC chairperson Noriaki Hirakata, in a briefing Monday, said they have already talked with several government officials regarding their bid to invest at least PHP7 billion for the EVIS program.

“This is a significant commitment because we are going to not develop but assemble the batteries for the hybrid EVs in the Philippines,” he added.

Hirakata said they are just awaiting the specific rules of the EVIS program.

“We will make the new technology equal to our production facility in Thailand or Indonesia. We want our plant to be competitive compared with other plants in Asia, even in Japan,” he said.

“We will try to localize this program as much as possible. It doesn't have to be overnight, (but) step by step,” he said, adding that they are already in talks with several domestic automotive parts players to help in their planned EV manufacturing bid.

Authorities said EVIS is expected to provide Filipinos more options on EVs, as the government shifts to the use of more renewable energy and lessens dependence on imported oil.

Once domestic EV production is fully operational, the prices of EVs are seen to decline by 6 to 12 percent compared to present levels, and are eyed to encourage more consumers to buy their own units.